Pouring spout for bags



Sept. 18, 1934 J. J. HICKMAN 3,

POURING SPOUT FOR BAGS Filed Got. 25, 1952 Patented Sept. 18,1934 3UNITED STATES PATENT orslcs POURING SPOUT FOR-BAGS I John J. Hickman,Ocean Park, Calif. Application October 25, 1932, Serial No. 639,427 3Claims. (Cl. 229-62) This invention relates to bags and like flexiblecontainers, such as used by merchants for packaging various commodities,for instance, sugar,

coffee, cocoa, breakfast foods, granular tobacco,

jams, peanut butter, etc., and particularly to a bag which isconstructed of Cellophane throughout and provided with a spout-likeprojection at its upper end.

Many industries realize the advantage of Cellophane as containermaterial for their purposes but find the ordinary bag as generally used,not suitable. The present invention is an endeavor to supply a bag thatwill answer and make Cellophane available to them, and so largelyincrease the scope and use of such material for container purposes.

The object of the present invention is to gen erally improve andsimplify the construction and operation of bags of the characterdescribed; 2 to provide a bag which may be constructed of Cellophanethroughout; to provide a bag having a restricted upper end whichterminates in a spout-like extension so that the con tents of the bagmay be readily poured out or removed in small quantities as required; toprovide a spout which is self-closing and normally flat but which may bereadily opened by applying pressure to the opposite ends,

thereof; and further, to provide a bag having a spout of the characterdescribed which may be readily sealed in closed position.

The invention is shown by way of illustration in the accompanyingdrawing, in which I Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the bag.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing a slightly different form of the bag.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the spout end of the bag.

on line IV-IV 4 is a cross section taken of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the upper end of the bag showing themanner in which it is folded to produce a spout-like projection.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of one of the celluloid strips.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and particularly Figs. 1 and 5, Aindicates the bottom of the bag, which may be constructed in anysuitable manner, 2 the sides of the bag, and 3 the ends thereof. a

The upper end of the bag is open and one of the features of the presentinvention is that of reducing the upper open end of the bag to form aspout-like projection thereon. This is accomplished, as shown in Fig. 5,by creasing the end walls of the bag along the lines indicated at 4-4,and then folding the material of the bag inwardly as shown. This reducesthe upper open end of the bag and forms an extension having two exteriorwalls 5 and 6, and two intermediate flaps '7 and 8. After the bag hasbeen folded in the manner described, two strips of celluloid areinserted, one of the strips being shown in Fig. 6. Each strip isrectangular in shape, one strip is inserted between the side wall5 andthe flap 8, as indicated at 9, while the other celluloid strip isinserted between the side wall 6 and the flap 7, as indicated at 10; thecelluloid strips, together with the flaps, being secured in position byemploying an adhesive or any other suitable means. After the celluloidstrips have been inserted a spout-like extension is formed and this isreinforced and strengthened by applying an exterior band 11, see Figs.1, 2, 3 and 4.

Due to the fact that the celluloid strips 9 and 10, shown in Fig. 6, areflat and rectangular in shape, they will normally tend to'lie flat withrelation to each other and as such will normally maintain the spout in ahat contracted position, such as shown in Fig. 5, but the spout may bereadily expanded or opened, as shown in Fig. 3, by merely applyingpressure to the ends indicated at 14 and 15. The moment, however,pressure is released the spout closes and will normally re main closed.If it is desired to temporarily or permanently retain the spout in aclosed position a flap or tab, such as indicated at 16, may be employed.This may be applied to the spout of the bag before the reinforced band11 is applied and as such is secured by the reinforcing band, and alsoby an adhesive medium if so desired. The free end of the flap, shown at16a, may thus be folded over the spout and over the other side, and ifthe surface of the flap, indicated at 16b, is provided with an adhesive,or the like, it may be secured to the opposite side, of the spout, thuspermanently retaining the spout closed and also sealing the same.

The bag as described above is preferably formed completely ofCellophane, with the exception of the strips 9 and 10, which are formedof clear celluloid. The two substances closely resemble each other,having the common qualities of transparency and flexibility, so that toall appearances theentire bag is made of a single substance. Thisclearly enhances the appearance of the bag itself and makes itparticularly desirable for the packing of such commodities as are moresaleable when exposed to the view of the purchaser. The reinforcing band11 will also be made of Cellophane and the tab 16 may similarly be madeof Cellophane, but if preferred, fabric, paper, or like material, may beemployed; in fact, the entire bag may be made of paper if desired, andif so made the only parts constructed of celluloid would be the strips 9and 10 forming the spout and possibly the tab 16. The ideal material,however, appears to be Cellophane as this is structurally tough andstrong; it is transparent .so as to permit display of the commoditycontained; and it is moisture-proof, and as such permits sealing of thepackage and thereby materially improving the keeping qualities of thecontents. In Fig. 1, the infolded upper ends are indicated by the dottedlines 4-4 and the tabs by the numerals '7 and 8. In Fig. 2, the infoldedends extend to the bottom of the bag, as indicated at 4a, henceproducing a bag which tapers throughout, the bag being widest at thebottom and terminating at the spout at the upper end; this type of bagbeing particularly intended for smaller packages, such as tobaccocontainers, confection, and so on, the type of bag shown in Fig. 1 beingused for larger bags and commodities suitable therefor.

In actual use the bag or container will serve many purposes. When filledwith jam, peanut butter, etc., it will serve as a substitute for cans orjars; when filled with tobacco it serves as a pouch; when filled withcocoa, coffee, and the like, the spout may be opened to permit insertionof a spoon for removal of the contents as required, and when filled withgranular materials, such as sugar, the spout may bepartially opened topermit the contents to be poured.

While certain features of the present invention are more or lessspecifically described, I wish it understood that various changes may beresorted to within the scope of the appended claims. Similarly, that thematerials and finish of the several parts employed may be such as themanufacturer may decide, or varying conditions or uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is- 1. A device of the character described comprising abag constructed of Cellophane, said bag having a bottom section and sideand end sections, and said end sections being folded inwardly adjacentthe top of the bag to form a reduced upper open end, a pair of fiatrectangular-shaped celluloid strips disposed in the reduced open end ofthe bag and secured therein, said strips forming a fiat normallyclosedspout-like extension on the bag and said spout adapted to be opened byapplying pressure to the opposite ends of the strips, a reinforcing bandencircling the exterior of the spout, and a tab secured to one side ofthe spout between the reinforcing band and the exterior surface of thebag, said tab having a free end foldable over the upper end of the spoutto engage the other side of the spout, and said free end having anadhesive surface to seal the end of the spout.

2. In a bag having flat side walls and end walls folded in to form flapsbetween the side walls, a flexible strip secured along one side wallbetween said wall and one fiap, and a small strip secured along theother side wall between said other wall and the other flap, said stripsbeing adjacent the open end of the bag and normally straight to form aclosure and being adapted to be flexed to a bowed position to open thebag.

3. A bag having flat side walls and end walls folded in to form flapsbetween said side walls, a flexible normally straight strip adhesivelysecured to one side wall and to one flap and being therebetween, asimilar strip adhesively secured to the other side wall and to the otherflap and being therebetween, said strips being adjacent the bag openingto maintain the same normally closed and being adapted to be flexed to abowed position to open the bag.

JOHN J. HICKMAN.

